


Against All Odds

by JustBeMe13



Series: This Is New [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, More tags will be added later, Multi, here we go again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28599117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustBeMe13/pseuds/JustBeMe13
Summary: Love is hard, and never easy. But between the battles and the scars, Zoro and Sanji make it look so easy.Everyone else wonders if they can have what they have, too.It's not as far out of reach as they all might think.Continuation of "The Little Things Are Most Important".
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: This Is New [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1882681
Kudos: 36





	1. As We Are

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go again, guys. 
> 
> I hope you didn't mind the wait. The first chapter is short, I know, but I'm trying to put in more detail and that takes me a lot of thinking and work, so I think the chapters will be shorter, but I can't promise anything. I hope you will enjoy anyways and let me know what you all think. 
> 
> I know you're reading it, you little creeps.
> 
> Author-chan

Sabo walked along the path in the courtyard and peeked around the corner to spot Zoro and Sanji quietly talking to each other by a bench. Sanji was his normal pristine self, as was Zoro (not really though, he’s such a slob), but they both looked tired, but sated, somehow. The blond’s hair was ruffled and Zoro’s clothes looked thrown on instead of carefully put on. Sabo smirked.

“Hey guys,” he said softly as he made his presence known to the two.

Sanji smiled at him, a gentle quirk of his lips around his cigarette. “Hey there, Sabo,” he said in return.

Zoro grunted at him and yawned, his jaw cracking loudly. There was a hickey on his neck, the skin dark and turning purple, the mark barely hidden by his yukata. Sabo hid a smile. He looked back at Sanji and carefully situated his hands on his hips, staring the blond down.

“You ready for the big fight?” he asked seriously, and curiously.

“I guess, but it’s not like we haven’t fought big battles before. We’ll manage,” Sanji said, puffing on his smoke happily.

Sabo noted the bags under his eyes. Sanji was obviously tired for some reason. Sabo knew from Luffy that Sanji had a Devil Fruit power now, but he hadn’t seen it in action yet. He guessed it took a lot of Sanji’s energy to maintain it, whatever it was.

“How about an afternoon meal? To strengthen up?” Sabo suggested and watched the way Sanji looked at him suspiciously.

“Sure,” the blond said, hand coming up to fiddle with the sapphire gem that hung from his neck by a fine golden cord.

Sabo nodded and motioned for Sanji to go ahead. Zoro stood, glaring at him and then grabbing Sanji’s hand, dragging him away.

“The mess hall is this way, idiot,” Sanji said affectionately, pulling Zoro the other way immediately.

Sabo watched as Zoro’s face went cherry red, even though he tried to hide it under a scowl. He grinned and followed after the odd pair with a skip to his steps. They entered the mess hall with several others Pirates; Robin, Franky, Chopper and Law. Robin looked pleased about something and had a book in one of her magical hands while another was holding up a slip of paper, her real eyes skimming over it as she sat down. Franky joined her, a greasy smell coming from him and a tired smile gracing his face; he’d surely done something mechanical that was too complicated for the rest of them to understand.

Chopper had a book in his hoof as well, face deeply in it and ears twitching as he hopped onto a seat opposite Robin, never looking away from the page he was so deeply interested in. Law was behind him, talking the little Doctor’s ear off with some practical information about what to do with a certain type of spine injury, and what not to do.

Sanji and Zoro joined them at the table and Sabo waved over one of the cooks, quickly informing him of a meal and then sitting down himself as well. Sanji’s head lay on the table, and he seemed to be conked out the moment he’d sat down. Zoro was looking at him worriedly, but didn’t shake him awake, kept their fingers intertwined and safe on his own thigh. Sabo thought it was cute, how caring the Swordsman was. He knew they were married, but he hadn’t seen their interactions in a few months, and this was all so very new, to them as well.

The cook came back with their meals and Sanji woke up on his own a few seconds later, letting go of Zoro’s hand to pick up his cutlery. Zoro seemed disappointed, but not as much as Sabo had imagined him to be. The Revolutionary grabbed his own fork and stabbed a piece of pork, popping it into his mouth and chewing.

“I wonder if they’ll bomb the island on sight,” Robin commented a moment later.

Sabo paused in his eating and frowned. “I don’t think so, that would give us the chance to escape, and I don’t think they’d want that to happen. Sakazuki wants all of us dead, after all.”

Robin nodded at that, placing her book down as her hand disappeared in a flurry of flowers, and picking up her spoon to taste some of her veggie soup. Beside her, Franky was plucking away Chopper’s book and shoving a plate of salad at the Reindeer. About to pout over his book, Chopper immediately cheered up at the sight of food and began shoveling it into his mouth, cueing Franky to begin his own meal with a soft grin.

Law, on the other hand, was now conked out as well, head on the table, hat smushed under his face and breathing softly. Chopper pulled his plate away a little, so he wouldn’t roll it in or anything and smiled fondly at the Surgeon. Sabo grinned and continued with his meal. The Pirates were tired, really tired.

“How’s it all going?” Sabo asked to distract some of them.

“Splendid,” Robin replied. “Sencho-san and Usopp-san have decided to nap, they both seemed tired. Nami-san is in her room making several plans. I’ll bring her a meal once I’m done myself. I do not know where Brook-san has gone off to, and it seems Torao-san needs his rest as well.”

Sabo nodded his understanding. Sanji seemed to be tired again as well, having finished his meal a few seconds ago. Sabo watched curiously as his head bobbed forwards and Zoro’s arm shot out to catch him before he planted his face in his plate. The Swordsman finished his meal and stood, keeping his hand against Sanji’s chest.

“I’m taking him to bed,” he grumbled to the others.

“Need help?” Sabo asked kindly. “You know, with finding your room and all,” he added, smirking.

Zoro sent him a glare and shook his head, lifting Sanji and carrying him like a small child, the Cook’s arms dangling over his shoulders and legs on one side of Zoro’s waist. The green-haired man’s hand was supporting Sanji’s body and the other settled on his swords.

“I’ll get there,” he said defensively.

Sabo nodded his head and watched them go, Sanji’s head lolling into Zoro’s shoulder, the Swordsman lips breaking into a fond smile as he pressed a kiss to the blond hair on Sanji’s head. They were so cute.

“I’m heading in as well. Chopper-san, do you mind waking the Doctor?” Robin said after a few moments of silence and eating.

Chopper nodded and finished his plate quickly, shook Law awake, took the man’s plate and his own book, and then both of them were gone for the rest of the day. Only Sabo and Franky remained as Robin took her leave with a small wave.

“How’s the Sunny?” Sabo asked absently as he used his spoon to pick up some mashed potatoes and shove them in his mouth.

“Better, I fixed up a crack in the hull and replaced some of the railing. One of the sails was damaged, but I managed to stitch it back together with Usopp’s help. He and Luffy went to nap after,” the Cyborg explained as he a bit into his fourth burger.

Sabo nodded absently. “I wish Ace was here,” he said quietly.

Franky stopped.

“Me too, bro, me too,” he said, wishing for the same even if he hadn’t met the man.

Sabo smiled, even though it didn’t reach his eyes.


	2. Scars Run Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scars always run deeper than people think, and they can hurt you in a way you didn't think was possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and update weekly, on tuesdays. 
> 
> Last week I posted this on wednesday, so it might be that day or today that I will update. But I'll try to do it weekly.
> 
> Also, enjoy the last chapter in Sabo's pov, for a while. I wanna try write chapters from more people's perspective than only Sanji or Zoro. 
> 
> Enjoy
> 
> Author-chan

Against all odds, Zoro and Sanji were still together in this fight. Sabo knew that from what Luffy had told them, Zoro should rightfully be dead; shot through the head by the Marine. Sabo wondered how he’d survived that and he was tempted to ask, but seeing as Zoro saw him as some sort of rival, Sabo opted not to.

He didn’t know what it was about the Swordsman, but Zoro seemed to have something against him that he couldn’t figure out. It was strange to think that one of Luffy’s crew would have a grudge towards him, and he wondered if he could fix this… something that was going on between them.

It seemed that it had to do with Sanji, because whenever Sabo was in their vicinity, Zoro wouldn’t leave his husband alone and was always glaring daggers at him. Even with the added tension underlying their skins for the coming battle, Sabo felt something else grow within him, like… guilt?

About what, and why?

He did notice that Sanji always smiled at him whenever he was near him, and that made Zoro’s mood even darker than it had already been. Perhaps it wasn’t perse his fault, but Sanji’s, unconsciously. To Sabo it seemed like a friendly conversation with Sanji, talking about their different homelands and spices and cooking and things they had in common, but to Zoro it could very well feel like Sanji was unfaithful to him, which the blond would never be.

Sabo always saw him fiddle with his necklace, every time Zoro wasn’t near him or in his sight. He’d get this worried look and glance back or around himself to assure himself that Zoro wasn’t in any danger.

It seemed the battles had left deeper scars, emotional or otherwise, than Sabo had expected. Deep into both of their hearts. And the only one that could fix this sort of tension was his little brother, Luffy. God knew Luffy could sense this kind of tension like a sixth sense, or whatever it was. Luffy always knew when one of his crew was in peril. He always helped them, too. Sabo decided it was time to find his perceptive, but not so smart, little brother.

Sabo knew Luffy was on the Thousand Sunny, and he went to look for him there first. What he found, though, was not Luffy, but Usopp and Franky fixing a paint job. He frowned, where was that little trouble maker he called his brother?

“Where’s Lu?” he asked the long-nosed man.

Usopp looked up, paint smeared on his cheek and in his hair, his shirt was also filthy. He had a paint brush in his hand with clear varnish on it, stroking it over the railing as he watched Sabo.

“I think he went to find Zoro. Said something about a bad feeling,” the Sniper answered, then turned back to painting.

“Thank you,” Sabo said, and hopped off the ship.

It appeared that Luffy had sensed the tension already and was going to talk to his First Mate to make things right. Sabo hoped it would kill some of the tension between all of them. He’d seen how riddled they were with it. It was eating away at them, as well as the Revolutionaries.

Sabo knew his own people were anxious to fight as much as the Straw Hats were, the wait for the Marines to come was long and hard and scary. Most of the younger kids had already been evacuated from Baltigo and taken to a safe place with some of the elders. They would have to continue the Revolutionaries work if they all died in this attack. Though Sabo doubted it would come to that, it was far better to be prepared than let innocent children die.

The battle itself would be hard, and long, if it was true that they would send ten Warships with three Admirals and the Fleet Admiral himself. It wasn’t like the Marines were going to give up just like that when they saw the force of their counterattack. Luffy was infamous, but he only had ten members on his entire crew, including himself. And since Jinbe wasn’t present, it was down to nine. With the added force of the Revolutionary Army they were with a bit more numbers. But they could never outnumber the Marines.

Sabo made his way into the base again, walking through weird hallways and around corners, following Luffy’s Haki towards where he was. It wasn’t hard to find him, as he was with two other strong Haki’s; Zoro and Sanji.

“You can’t be mean, Zoro,” Luffy’s voice said as Sabo stopped by the last bend.

“He’s being mean? To whom?” Sanji’s concerned voice said.

“I’m not,” Zoro grouched.

“You are,” Luffy said.

“Alright, fine. I’m glaring at Sabo, so what?”

“You’re glaring at Sabo? What’d he do?”

“Nothing.”

“For Roger’s sake, Zoro! Why are you glaring at Sabo?” Sanji snarled, and Sabo heard a thump.

Zoro had obviously been kicked somewhere as he grunted and growled, but didn’t retaliate.

“Jeez, okay, let me talk already!” Zoro protested, Luffy snickered and stayed quiet.

“You’ve been laughing at him, smiling at him, I’m jealous alright,” Zoro barked out.

They fell silent and Sabo felt his heart thunder in his throat. Zoro was such a baby with these types of things, he’d seen that before. Sanji was a more level-headed person and could keep calm in strange situations. Zoro quickly let his anger cloud his judgement, way too quickly. 

“You’re what?” Sanji asked.

“… Jealous…” Zoro muttered.

Sanji kept quiet, and Sabo knew that now was his time to leave. He’d heard enough and the situation would resolve itself. For now, he’d just go back to his quarters and plot Sakazuki’s horrible death.


	3. What We Fight For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied. 
> 
> It seems I cannot update regularly. Also this is an exception to the hiatus because this was almost done and I was editing the first part of the book. I'll be updating the edited work so there'll be some slight changes like names in the story, but not much, ya'll won't miss anything. (Mostly grammer mistakes).
> 
> I hope you like this chapter, it's full of feels, but very short. I don't know yet what will be up next but please stay tuned. 
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> Author-chan

Robin was the first to spot them, tiny dots as they appeared on the horizon. She had informed them all immediately with her ability and now everyone was standing at the ready, on the upper gangplanks or on the ground to defend the drawbridge of the fortress. 

It was now or never.

They had to fight for their freedom and their lives and they would, with all they had.

Zoro looked sideways at Sanji, his husband and the one thing he loved more than his swords. Sanji was extremely important to Zoro in a way the Cook probably wouldn’t even understand. Zoro had no words for it though, so he couldn’t tell Sanji even if he tried. But he could show him, and that’s what he would do, as many times as it would take.

He reached for Sanji’s hands, intertwining their fingers as he stared ahead at the coming battle ships. Sanji’s hand tightened it’s grip in his and he smiled, turning his head to look at him.

“You’re okay enough to fight?” Sanji asked him, before he could ask the same.

Zoro nodded, moving his leg around to show that it was alright and grinning. “I’m fine, what about you? Got enough food in your system for multiple changes?”

Sanji nodded. “I’m eating almost as much as Luffy, this is ridiculous.”

He laughed, Zoro liked that sound, it made a smile creep up his face. Sanji smiled back at him and faced forwards again.

“I think it’ll be a really ugly battle,” he whispered.

Zoro nodded once. “Yeah, won’t surprise me. I just hope Luffy punches the shit out of Sakazuki. The bastard deserves it,” he growled.

Sanji’s hand tightened another fraction. “Yeah,” he agreed. “He does deserve it, he took Ace.”

Sanji was almost growling by now and Zoro wondered if steam would come from his ears. He chuckled and pulled the man into a hug, placing Sanji’s head against his shoulder and leaning his own head on his.

“It’ll be okay, Luffy’s gonna kick his ass,” Zoro whispered.

Sanji trembled with rage in his arms, but then breathed in deeply and sighed. He took a few more calming breaths, but his face still showed rage. 

“I know, that guy just frustrate me, is all,” he said, pushing away from Zoro gently.

Zoro nodded. “I know, me too. But Luffy will deal with him, Sabo will help.”

Sanji nodded and turned back to look at the battle ships that were about to come into shooting range. Luffy was already swinging his arms around, getting ready to deflect cannon balls and other things coming their ways.

“I’m ready to kill something,” Sanji snarled, tapping his steel-toed shoes on the planks.

Zoro chuckled. “Me too, Sanji, me too,” he said, wrapping his arm around the man’s waist and pulling him into a hug, nuzzling in the hair by Sanji’s ear.

Sanji leaned into him with a sigh, tension leaving his body as he soaked up Zoro’s warmth. They were ready for this battle, physically at least, but mentally being prepared for a battle was something wholly different. Zoro knew he was prepared for the blood and the spilling guts and the death and everything that came from the destruction of his swords, but he didn’t know if the rest of his friends were.

“They’ll be alright,” Sanji said, as if reading his mind.

And he was, actually. They could still feel what the other was feeling after all. Zoro smiled, of course they would be alright. He had faith in his friends, and if they weren’t, they’d have help nearby. Zoro knew that, if they fought hard, they would surely win this battle, he had no doubts.

“We’ll teach them not to mess with the Straw Hat Pirates,” Zoro growled, biting a kiss into Sanji’s exposed strip of neck.

Sanji yelped, hand smacking into Zoro’s face as it flew to cover his neck. Zoro snickered and pulled away, turning his lover around to kiss him on the lips. Sanji melted into the kiss, and Zoro knew that if he were to die right now, he would have no regrets. Not even bothered by the fact that he hadn’t become the Greatest Swordsman in the world, because with Sanji here, in his arms, none of that mattered anymore.

Zoro realized it at once. He was happy.


End file.
